This week, Washington voters approved Referendum 71, upholding a state law that provides important legal protections and grants the same rights and responsibilities of marriage to same-sex and senior registered domestic partners as married couples.

On election night, Referendum 71 was touted as too close to call. As Smore --------------------------------------------------

Sherry Wolf, valued collaborator of Cleve Jones and one of the leading organizers and speakers of the National Equality March in Washington D.C., is coming to Seattle to continue her speaking tour for her recent book, Sexuality and Socialism, and to speak at the International Socialist Ormore --------------------------------------------------

While the LGBT community cheered the apparent victory of Referendum 71 in Washington and mourned the passage of Question 1 in Maine, electoral results from other parts of the country offered additional cause for celebration.

On October 28, Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, who made two Gay slurs within a 24-hour period directed at Chiefs coach, Todd Haley, was issued a one-game suspension - a decision Johnson's agent said he would appeal.

Peter Schaffer said the suspension and other more --------------------------------------------------

Mayor Bloomberg has added his voice to the gay marriage debate in the Senate, sending an eleventh-hour missive to all 62 members of the chamber that urges them to hold an up-or-down vote on the measure in the name of "democracy."

RUSSELLVILLE, AL - The American Civil Liberties Union today demanded that Franklin County School System officials reverse its decision that a lesbian student can't attend the school prom with her girlfriend. Cynthia Stewart, a junior at Tharptown more

Portugal to legalize same-sex marriage
Sources close to Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates, who is forming a new government following September elections, said October 23 that legalizing same-sex marriage will be one of the new team's first actions.

Northwest NewsSEATTLE OUT & PROUD
CO-HOSTS SAM REMIX
On Friday, November 6, from 6 p.m. - midnight, join Seattle Out and Proud (SOaP), organizers of Seattle's annual Pride Parade, at the Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave. at University St., for a great line-up of music, performances and special guests. As a "Friend of SOaP," you'll get the $5 SAM member rate. To get the discounted ratmore

Mainers split on November 3 marriage vote
Maine voters are split 48 percent to 48 percent on Question 1, the measure on the November 3 ballot that would use the state's 'people's veto' to stop the new law that legalized same-sex marriage from taking effect.

Newly formed University of Washington student group Students Organizing for LGBT Equality (SOLE) staged a kiss-in on November 4 at the University of Washington's Red Square. The event, which was a moderate success, served as a celebration of the early lead for the Approve R-71 Campaignmore
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The Seattle Police Department are looking for a vehicle that officers suspect may have been involved in the shooting death of field training officer Timothy Brenton and the wounding of student officer Britt Sweeney on October 31 in Seattle's Leschi neighborhood.

Former Golden Girls actress Bea Arthur included a $300,000 donation to New York's Ali Forney Center, an organization supporting homeless LGBT youth, in her will. Arthur died of natural causes in April.

Her act of generosity left the center's executive director, Carl Sicilianomore-------

American Veterans For Equal Rights (AVER) elected Danny Ingram as the organization's national president on October 18 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As president, Ingram will lead the largest national veteran service organization dedicated to serving the needs of LGBT vets, as well as advocatemore-------

Equality California's Executive Director, Geoff Kors, is demanding that President Obama take action against anti-equality ballot measures. The organization has set up a petition to Obama on their website at www.eqca.org/enough.